LABOUR have refused to rule out sending refugees back to the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan from which they escaped.
Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s Westminster leader, accused Keir Starmer’s party of engaging with a “populist dog whistle” after they also declined to say they would not send asylum seekers back to Iran.
Appearing on BBC Newsnight on Monday, Labour’s shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth insisted that the Tories’ Rwanda scheme would not work as a deterrent to prevent people trying to come to the UK.
Instead, he said Labour are “going to send people back” to the countries from which they are fleeing.
He said: “We're going to process people's claims, and we're going to get on with processing people's claims and those people who shouldn't be here when they come from countries like Bangladesh or wherever, we're going to send them back.”
Asked why that would deter people from trying to cross the Channel on small boats, Ashworth said: “Because at the moment they get, they come over here, they know Rwanda only deals with 1%. The rest could stay in a hotel for the rest of their lives.
“That's a big thrashing incentive to come here. Whereas we're saying that rather than sending flights to Rwanda, we're going to be sending flights to all the countries that these people came from by sending people back.”
Ignoring facts in favour of a populist dog whistle. The race to the right in Westminster politics is there for all to see. The Tories chase Reform. Labour chase the Tories. And this is the result. Depressing.pic.twitter.com/nSDvsg9E7E
— Stephen Flynn (@StephenFlynnSNP) June 25, 2024
BBC host Victoria Derbyshire pointed to official figures which show that most asylum seekers in the UK come from Afghanistan and Iran.
She asked if Labour would look to get a return agreement with the Taliban and with the Iranian regime.
Pushed after repeatedly dodging the question, Ashworth said: “Well, you look at each one on its merits, obviously.”
He added: “We’re going to get returns agreements … well, that’s a different. The Taliban in Afghanistan is a different set up."
Asked again if Labour would get a returns agreement with the Taliban, Ashworth said: “I'm giving you practical examples of where we believe we can deal with these problems.
“At the moment, people coming here from the Indian subcontinent, you know, do not get returned, they get put up in hotels and they can stay in these hotels for the rest of their lives. That's the Tory policy.
“So when we say we're going to get flights off, yeah, we're going to have to get flights taking people back to countries like this, where we get returns agreements.
“We're not going to put our hands in the air and say, ‘Oh, well, sorry, we can't do it’. We've got to deal with this issue.”
Responding to the interview, the SNP’s Flynn said that Labour were moving further and further towards a Reform-inspired position on immigration.
He wrote: “Ignoring facts in favour of a populist dog whistle. The race to the right in Westminster politics is there for all to see.
“The Tories chase Reform. Labour chase the Tories. And this is the result. Depressing.”
The National contributor Owen Jones said: "I would rather pull my own nails out than vote for this."
Nato left Afghanistan in 2021, quickly leading to the Taliban taking back power in the country.
The Taliban brought back bans on education for girls and laws stopping women from going to work.
The Taliban also banned women’s beauty salons, adding on laws that prevent women from being in public spaces like parks and gyms.
The National's foreign editor David Pratt wrote in 2023: "Such is the sustained severity of the Taliban’s onslaught that some leading human rights observers have called it 'intentional cruelty', 'gender apartheid' and a 'war on women'."
